A simple choice
by tillowygoodness
Summary: Set during 'Seeing Red', what if it had been different, if Xander had been faster? Rated M because I rate thing M
I own the following, zilch, zip, nada. Joss Whedon and whoever else own Buffy and all characters, and God bless them. This story is just to fix the single biggest mistake in all 7 seasons, there were only 2-3 and this was intolerable. Enjoy.

Willow and Tara had reconciled and were being wonderful as usual. Xander had apologized for being an asshat, all seemed well. The one thing they didn't know was that Warren, the creep Buffy had beaten the day before. was out for revenge. He stormed into the Slayer's backyard, brandishing a gun.

'You think you could just do that, you think I would let you get away with it?" he yelled. Warren raised the gun and fired as he ran

Xander had been weak for years, he had been a butt monkey and totally pathetic, and he knew it, but in that one moment he redeemed himself, pushing Buffy to the ground as the gun came up and yelling "Willow, Tara, DOWN!" as loud as he could. But his actions had cost him, he didn't have time to move to safety, and he didn't plan to, he turned to cover Buffy with his own body as be a human shield, but as the bullets flew, he staggered and fell.

Upstairs, the young witches heard to shots outside and Willow turned pale as one punched through the window, passing right where Tara had been standing and lodging itself in the wall. They lay flat on the ground as the shooting stopped, then they heard Buffy screaming "Xander!, No, somebody help! Xander!"

Outside, Buffy had picked herself up off the ground, she looked for the evil little shit Warren but he was gone. Xander was still on the ground, Buffy screamed and called for help, but it was too late. The bullet had taken him through the heart and he had probably been dead before he hit the ground. She heard footsteps and she turned, pulling her knife out, ready to gut her enemy like a pig, but it was Willow and Tara. Willow was concerned for Buffy, she hugged her "are you ok, did he hit you?" Then she stopped when she saw why Tara was not next to her, her girlfriend had seen Xander on the ground in his own blood. The look on Willow's face was heartbreaking, it was a look that Buffy had only seen once before, the night that Buffy had revealed that she had been in Heaven, not Hell, and Willow had taken that away from her. It was a look of absolute despair, a look that drained the joy from anyone who saw it, a look that the sweetest, kindest person in the world might never be happy again. And then Willow's hair turned black.

'Willow, you have to stop! This is the last thing Xander would want, he loved you, your friends love you, I love you!'

Tara stood between Willow and a temple she thought her love would never even consider looking for, much less raising, the felt the dark power of it, like a plague on her very soul, she wanted to vomit, she wanted to fall and weep. But she forced herself to stand, of she failed, she would die, more importantly to her, Willow would die destroying the world, no good afterlife would ever admit her, Tara had to fight on, through her pain, through the horrors she had seen, Willow going dark, attacking Anya, attacking Buffy, nearly killing Giles, even raising a hand against Dawn. And Warren…Tara shook her head, this was not the time, the woman she loved was lost in there, Tara knew Willow had no control, it was darkness driving her body. Tara had been there, after Glory had attacked her, she knew what it was like to be trapped in your mind, alone and helpless and terrified, she was NOT going to let Willow lose herself 'I will always find you' she whispered. Those words, that fierce promise on a dark day, Tara had heard it even in the darkness and never forgotten, and now, it seemed to give Willow strength, strength to fight, to claw her way back from oblivion. She sank to the ground, eyes and hair returning to events of the past day seemed to hit her all at once, she collapsed into Tara's arms, sobbing, crying out for Xander, begging for forgiveness. Tara felt her heart break for the redhead, the girl she loved more than life itself, but she felt a spark of hope. They would mourn, and rebuild, and because Xander had the strength to protect his little family, those left would grow closer. The night had been dark, but Tara could see the dawn.


End file.
